COTS

Defn

WHAT IS COTS?

Ref - DIRECTORATE OF STANDARDISATION

STUDY MATERIAL FOR COURSES CONDUCTED AT
INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS TRAINING PUNE MAY
2001 CONTENTS https://ddpdos.gov.in/study-material

COTS stand for "Commercial off The Shelf' items. That means items, which can be picked
up, form the open market and can be used for making defence equipment or a system or the
item itself can be used as a system as a whole.

COTS may also be interpreted as the hardware and software that is used in a wide range of
industrial applications and is available in broadly the same form, and to the same standard,
form a variety of suppliers

Types – COTS hardware – as a direct ,ready to use product

- COTS component – part or constituent within a product (While

many
definitions of COTS components exist in the industry, the DO-254
guidance is concerned with design assurance for safety
requirements, irrespective of the components used. While the use
of commercially ava ilable components will be shown to have
several benefits, a significant challenge to the of use of COTS
components lies in the fact that, by definition, the component is
“developed by a supplier for multiple customers, whose design and
configuration is controlled by the supplier’s or an industry
specification,” as found in DO-254 glossary definition of COTS.
DO-254 adopts a requirements driven approach in which
requirements flow down to the component design, however, for
COTS components, the component design is previously
established by the COTS component supplier and based on the
suppliers perception of the needs of the commercial market
targeted by the product)
-

- COTS software. Better to

A number of costs are sometimes hidden,so organizations must conduct
market research and product analyses to find suitable COTS products and
alternatives. Insafety-criticalorsecurity-
criticalapplicationswithhighintegrityrequirements,thecostofassessmentm
ayveryquicklyoutweighbenefits.Securing.licensesandwarrantiesis time-
consumingandcostly,especiallyifthewarrantyavailabletothegeneralpublicis
notacceptable. Another cost driver is
that"plugandplay"functionalityhasnotbeendevelopedforsoftware.Integra
tionisnotalwaysstraightforward and mayrequirethedevelopment of
additional software. When multiple COT Scomponent are integrated into
a system, complex integration issues occur.These are often'resolved
through extensive bridging software and component-based architectures.
Often, it is desirable to add software to ensure that safety
issuesarehandledproperly,ormakemodificationstotheCOTSinterfacetomak
edangerousfeaturesinaccessible.Finally,justkeepingtrackofupgrades,tosay
nothingofthecostofrecoverywhena vendor discontinues a productor goes
out of business, does much to temper the promise ofcost savings
erm COTS product is defined on the basis of the ‘Federal Acquisition Regulations’. It is
defined as something that one can buy, ready-made, from some manufacturer's virtual
store shelf

discreet definition matters without any ambiguity

restrict COTs to ship/ submarine based equipment

Industrial equipemtn have their own standard

MIL COTS or IN COTS